Two Fort Wayne, Indiana, police officers are on regular patrol duties after a video showing cops using force during the arrest of a man spread across social media, prompting an internal investigation into the encounter.

The Fort Wayne Police Department identified the suspect as 45-year-old Rahiem Kubisty, who fled an early Saturday morning traffic stop and left his SUV rolling backward into a police cruiser. After a short foot pursuit and a physical struggle that left three officers with minor injuries, police arrested Kubisty.

Bystander footage captured several officers surrounding Kubisty on the ground as he shouted that he could not breathe and accused an officer of punching him in the face. During the encounter, an officer ordered the person recording the arrest to back away from the scene.

Footage shows officers using force to arrest Rahiem Kubisty in a viral video. (Photo Credit: @SeeRacists/X Screenshot)

“If you don’t want to get involved, you’d better disappear,” the officer can be heard saying in the footage.

Kubisty also asked for an ambulance.

“What do you need an ambulance for, big dog?” an officer responded in the video.

“You ran from us,” another officer said.

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After Kubisty protested that he did not deserve the punch, an officer told him, “You’re lucky you didn’t get more.” 

The department released additional details after the footage began circulating online.

“We take community concerns seriously, especially when a video raises questions about police actions. We are reviewing the incident, gathering available video, and determining the facts. Videos may show important information, but they may not show everything that occurred before, during, or after an incident. We will review the full context and provide accurate information,” the police department said.

According to WANE, the sequence of events began just after midnight Saturday when an officer spotted an SUV traveling in the dark with its headlights and taillights switched off. Police noted that the vehicle repeatedly flashed its lights before continuing without them, sparking the initial traffic stop that led to the recorded encounter.

Police say Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles records showed the suspect was habitual traffic violator. Officers took him to a hospital for medical evaluation before booking him into the Allen County Jail.

He faces several preliminary charges, including resisting law enforcement in a vehicle, resisting law enforcement while fleeing on foot, resisting law enforcement by physical means, leaving the scene of a property-damage crash and being a habitual traffic violator. 

The viral footage has, however, drawn scrutiny to the officers’ conduct during the arrest.

Fort Wayne Police Chief P.J. Smith said Monday that the department placed the two officers involved on “restrictive duty,” limiting them to assignments such as clerical work instead of patrol.

Smith said the move was made “for the best interest of the public and our department.” 

Chief Smith also addressed the officer’s directive to the bystander who recorded the arrest, defending the public’s right to record police encounters. “Absolutely people can record,” Smith said. “And we will never tell people they cannot record.”

Addressing the community fallout, Chief Smith framed the internal investigation around public accountability. “I always want our department to be transparent,” Smith noted, stressing that police work falls apart without community support.

“Trust is everything to us. Without trust, we can’t be an effective police department.”

The department has not released the officers’ names. Its Internal Affairs Division is reviewing the incident, including body camera and dashboard camera footage.

Chief Smith said the investigation should take about a month, and the department will release additional footage once investigators complete their review.

‘I Can’t Breathe!’: Indiana Cops Removed from Patrol After Viral Video Shows Them Violently Arresting Black Man and Telling Bystander to ‘Disappear’